Observables in the Decays of B to Two Vector Mesons

In general there are nine observables in the decay of a B meson to two vector mesons defined in terms of polarization correlations of these mesons. Only six of these can be detected via the subsequent decay angular distributions because of parity conservation in those decays. The remaining three require the measurement of the spin polarization of one of the decay products.Comment: 12 pages, no figur

Hysteresis in the de Haas-van Alphen Effect

A hysteresis loop is observed for the first time in the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) effect of beryllium at low temperatures and quantizing magnetic field applied parallel to the hexagonal axis of the single crystal. The irreversible behavior of the magnetization occurs at the paramagnetic part of the dHvA period in conditions of Condon domain formation arising by strong enough dHvA amplitude. The resulting extremely nonlinear response to a very small modulation field offers the possibility to find in a simple way the Condon domain phase diagram. From a harmonic analysis, the shape and size of the hysteresis loop is constructed.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PR

The optimal schedule for pulsar timing array observations

In order to maximize the sensitivity of pulsar timing arrays to a stochastic gravitational wave background, we present computational techniques to optimize observing schedules. The techniques are applicable to both single and multi-telescope experiments. The observing schedule is optimized for each telescope by adjusting the observing time allocated to each pulsar while keeping the total amount of observing time constant. The optimized schedule depends on the timing noise characteristics of each individual pulsar as well as the performance of instrumentation. Several examples are given to illustrate the effects of different types of noise. A method to select the most suitable pulsars to be included in a pulsar timing array project is also presented.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, accepted by MNRA

Direct Observation of Condon Domains in Silver by Hall Probes

Using a set of micro Hall probes for the detection of the local induction, the inhomogeneous Condon domain structure has been directly observed at the surface of a pure silver single crystal under strong Landau quantization in magnetic fields up to 10 T. The inhomogeneous induction occurs in the theoretically predicted part of the H-T Condon domain phase diagram. Information about size, shape and orientation of the domains is obtained by analyzing Hall probes placed along and across the long sample axis and by tilting the sample. On a beryllium surface the induction inhomogeneity is almost absent although the expected induction splitting here is at least ten times higher than in silver.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PR

Information Content in B→VVB \to VV Decays and the Angular Moments Method

The time-dependent angular distributions of decays of neutral $B$ mesons into two vector mesons contain information about the lifetimes, mass differences, strong and weak phases, form factors, and CP violating quantities. A statistical analysis of the information content is performed by giving the ``information'' a quantitative meaning. It is shown that for some parameters of interest, the information content in time and angular measurements combined may be orders of magnitude more than the information from time measurements alone and hence the angular measurements are highly recommended. The method of angular moments is compared with the (maximum) likelihood method to find that it works almost as well in the region of interest for the one-angle distribution. For the complete three-angle distribution, an estimate of possible statistical errors expected on the observables of interest is obtained. It indicates that the three-angle distribution, unraveled by the method of angular moments, would be able to nail down many quantities of interest and will help in pointing unambiguously to new physics.Comment: LaTeX, 34 pages with 9 figure

Discovery of two pulsars towards the Galactic Centre

We report the discovery of two highly dispersed pulsars in the direction of the Galactic Centre made during a survey at 3.1 GHz with the Parkes radio telescope. Both PSRs J1745-2912 and J1746-2856 have an angular separation from the Galactic Centre of less than 0.3 degrees and dispersion measures in excess of 1100 cm-3pc, placing them in the top 10 pulsars when ranked on this value. The frequency dependence of the scatter-broadening in PSR J1746-2856 is much shallower than expected from simple theory. We believe it likely that the pulsars are located between 150 and 500 pc from the Galactic Centre on the near side, and are part of an excess population of neutron stars associated with the Centre itself. A second survey made at 8.4 GHz did not detect any pulsars. This implies either that there are not many bright, long-period pulsars at the Galactic Centre or that the scattering is more severe at high frequencies than current models would suggest.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS Letter

Reverse-domain superconductivity in superconductor-ferromagnet hybrids: effect of a vortex-free channel on the symmetry of I-V characteristics

We demonstrate experimentally that the presence of a single domain wall in an underlying ferromagnetic BaFe_{12}O_{19} substrate can induce a considerable asymmetry in the current (I) - voltage (V) characteristics of a superconducting Al bridge. The observed diode-like effect, i.e. polarity-dependent critical current, is associated with the formation of a vortex-free channel inside the superconducting area which increases the total current flowing through the superconducting bridge without dissipation. The vortex-free region appears only for a certain sign of the injected current and for a limited range of the external magnetic field

Spin frequency evolution and pulse profile variations of the recently re-activated radio magnetar XTE J1810-197

After spending almost a decade in a radio-quiet state, the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar XTE J1810-197 turned back on in early December 2018. We have observed this radio magnetar at 1.5 GHz with ~daily cadence since the first detection of radio re-activation on 8 December 2018. In this paper, we report on the current timing properties of XTE J1810-197 and find that the magnitude of the spin frequency derivative has increased by a factor of 2.6 over our 48-day data set. We compare our results with the spin-down evolution reported during its previous active phase in the radio band. We also present total intensity pulse profiles at five different observing frequencies between 1.5 and 8.4 GHz, collected with the Lovell and the Effelsberg telescopes. The profile evolution in our data set is less erratic than what was reported during the previous active phase, and can be seen varying smoothly between observations. Profiles observed immediately after the outburst show the presence of at least five cycles of a very stable ~50-ms periodicity in the main pulse component that lasts for at least tens of days. This remarkable structure is seen across the full range of observing frequencies.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, updated with additional analysis of the 50-ms oscillation, accepted for publication in MNRA

Crossover between different regimes of inhomogeneous superconductivity in planar superconductor-ferromagnet hybrids

We studied experimentally the effect of a stripe-like domain structure in a ferromagnetic BaFe_{12}O_{19} substrate on the magnetoresistance of a superconducting Pb microbridge. The system was designed in such a way that the bridge is oriented perpendicular to the domain walls. It is demonstrated that depending on the ratio between the amplitude of the nonuniform magnetic field B_0, induced by the ferromagnet, and the upper critical field H_{c2} of the superconducting material, the regions of the reverse-domain superconductivity in the H-T plane can be isolated or can overlap (H is the external magnetic field, T is temperature). The latter case corresponds to the condition B_0/H_{c2}<1 and results in the formation of superconductivity above the magnetic domains of both polarities. We discovered the regime of edge-assisted reverse-domain superconductivity, corresponding to localized superconductivity near the edges of the bridge above the compensated magnetic domains. Direct verification of the formation of inhomogeneous superconducting states and external-field-controlled switching between normal state and inhomogeneous superconductivity were obtained by low-temperature scanning laser microscopy.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure